Secondary Initial Teacher Education Modern Languages - Postgraduate Certificate in Education

The course is part of the Department of Education's programme for Initial Teacher Training. Units studied are:

• Enabling Learning
• Meeting Curriculum Challenges
• Becoming a Teacher

These units are studied in both the school and the University-based parts of the course, the work on each site being complementary.

The University continually enhances our offer by responding to feedback from our students and other stakeholders, ensuring the curriculum is kept up to date and our graduates are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need for the real world. This may result in changes to the course. If changes to your course are approved we will inform you.

We recognise that embarking on a new course of study can sometimes be quite a challenging undertaking. Students have three main sources of support and information from the University during the course: firstly there is the Group Tutor in their subject area, secondly each student is allocated a Personal Tutor and thirdly any student can get support on a range of issues from the Department Student Adviser.

The Modern Languages programme at UWE will give you the skills you need to be a successful languages teacher of the future. Trainees become involved in an exciting mixture of teaching and learning styles, ranging from presentations and micro-teaching to pair and small group work. You will also be able to find out about the learning process and try things out in the group, such as presenting a new language to a class or experimenting with a game you have just made. There will be regular opportunities for French specialists, Germanists and Hispanists to work together.

The following are some of the things we look at in subject sessions:

• Communicative language teaching
• Planning in line with the National Curriculum and KS3 strategy
• In-depth work on Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing
• Evaluation of course materials
• Assessment at KS3, KS4 and post-16
• GCSE, 'A' level and post-16 alternatives
• Management of the Modern Languages classroom
• The teaching and learning of grammar
• Hands-on ICT training
• Creative writing in Modern Languages, including poems and songs

During the 24 weeks spent in two different partner schools, you will be encouraged to develop your full potential and to play a full part in the life of the school in which you are placed. There will be a strong framework of support and within this you will have opportunities to try out your ideas and develop your teaching skills.

If you share our enthusiasm for languages then our PGCE course is the one for you.

Hear what our students think about their time at UWE.

In order to pass the course, trainees are required to pass each unit. They are assessed on a number of written assignments and also on classroom practice against the standards specified by the Secretary of State for the award of QTS.

For more detail see our full glossary of assessment terms.